. and thenewjobsnumber,thefiscalcliff, allof it will be on the table when george stephanopoulos sits down with a turbocharged powerhouse round table. james carville, mary matalin and nobel prize-winning economist paul krugman, on sunday for "this week." >>> and now, we go overseas to syria, where people are fleeing amid fears that the assad regime will unleash chemical weapons. the region around the capital, damascus, now a battle zone. 2 million syrians now on the run, many of them children. and it is extremely difficult for journalists to enter that country and cover the chaos. but abc's alex marquardt pushed across the border tonight and he is there. alex? >> reporter: we've spent the day among the thousands of refugees living here, and the conditions are miserable. rain has turned the roads to rivers of mud, there's no power or gas for heat, and it's only getting colder by the day. the rain poured as we approached the crossing into syria. the first stop, a rebel checkpoint. tanks and men armed with ak-47s. once past them, a narrow, winding road that led us to white tents in a sea of r

purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice. >>>newjobnumbers,fiscalclifftalks,legalized marijuana, all the news was fodder for late night comedians this week. >> some good news, some good news. the u.s. unemployment rate is now the lowest it's been in four years. or as makers of sweatpants put it, uh-oh. >>> climate rate has fallen through its lowest level in nearly four years. the bad news, most of those jobs involve wearing a red suit, a beard and having a kid pee in your lap. >> house speaker john bainers says his efforts to work with president obama on the fiscal cliff have resulted in a lot of talk but no action. yeah. a lot of talk but no action, or as they call that in college a date. >> good morning, everyone. i'm randi kaye. victor is off today. it's 9:00 on the east coast. 6:00 a.m. out west. thanks so much for starting your day with us. we start this morning with the supreme court and the decision to hear two major cases on same-sex marriage. justices will hear arguments against the federal government's defense of marriage act and california's propo

with an incoming member of congress about thebigjobfacinghim and his views onthefiscalcliffstandoffs.you're watching "weekends with alex witt." with the spark cash card from capital one, olaf gets great rewards for his small business! pizza! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! helium delivery. put it on my spark card! [ pop! ] [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve great rewards! awesome!!! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? to provide a better benefits package... oahhh! [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. [ duck yelling ] [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha! let's see if we can get the same item at walmart for less? okay. fijit friends. fifteen bucks on rollback. wow! that's a savings of over 29 bucks! twenty-nine bucks!!?? and they're powered by friendship. see for yourself if you could save on the

serves as another reminder thatthefiscalcliffmaybe obscuring the fact that america is actually poised for an economic renaissance. short-term indicators are looking good. jobs are being created. consumer debt is shrinking. goldman sachs said last week despite a market rally this year, stocks can rise another 10 to 15% in 2013. forget silver lining. how about the golden lining around the economic cloud? with mortgage rates expected to stay low through 2014, home affordability is as good as it's been in generations. that's going to attract buyers who have b

cliffthat'sthreatening our economy andthreateningjobs, thewhite house is has wasted another week. >> reporter: this morning in his weekly address, president obama is holding a hard line on raising rates for the wealthy. >> and if we're serious about protecting middle-class families, then we're also going to have to ask the wealthiest americans to pay higher tax rates. that's one principle i won't compromise on. >> reporter: but how much higher could be the key. the top tax rate is set to rise from 35% to 39.6% on january 1st. when asked if a middle ground could be found, both boehner and biden showed some wiggle room. >> the top brackets have to go up. it's not a negotiable issue. theoretically we can negotiate how far up. >> reporter: at another local restaurant, the owner has seen enough of washington gridlock. >> i wish those lawmakers would get their [ bleep ] together and get it done and try to help everybody. it would be good if they could do it before the holidays are over. >> reporter: craig, as someone who spent some time in river city here in washington, i wanted to sho

as part of a plan to avertthefiscalcliff. >> we must reformthejobkillingtax code by getting rid of loopholes. our goal should be to create new taxpayers. the gop commented raising taxes won't solve the nation's 16 trillon dollar debt. the potentialal candidate in 2016 he said only economic growth and reformingen titlement programs can control the debt. >> the former florida governor said is he a democrat now. he announced that last night. he posted a photograph where he was holding a voter application. the times reported that he signed papers to change to democrat at a christmas reception at the white house. >> yesterday marked the 71st anniversary of the pearl harbor attacks and many paused to remember that faceful day. in hawaii there was a moment of silence. that surprise attack killed about 2400 people. it was the start of the united states involvement in world war ii. >>> in alameda pearl harbor survivors took part in the ceremony at the coast guard island. the 21 guard salute honored the survivors, they are still fresh for the men who were there. 91-year-old was on the w

. this is not a progress report because there is no progress to report. when it comes tothefiscalcliffthatis threatening our economy and threatening jobs, the white house has wasted another week. eight days ago, secretary geithner kaine your to offer a plan that had twice the tax hikes that the president campaigned on. it had more stimulus spending than it had in cuts, and it had an indefinite and infinite increase in the debt limit, like forever. four days ago, we offered a serious proposal based on testimony of president clinton's former chief of staff. since then, there has been no counteroffer from the white house. instead, reports indicate that the president has adopted a deliberate strategy to push our economy right to the edge of the fiscal cliff. instead of reforming the tax code and cutting spending, the president wants to raise tax rates. even if the president got the tax rate hike he wanted, understand we will continue to see $1 trillion deficits for as far as the eye can see. washington has got a spending problem, not a revenue problem. if the president does not agree wit

it anymore--fiscalcliffis?today we got an incredible employment report from the labor department. with 146,000 new jobs. i was looking for 90,000. the unemployment rate dropping to 7.7. i thought it might be 8%. and all this despite the effects of hurricane sandy. who knows how high we could have been if it weren't for that darn hurricane? yet the market barely blinked. yet the potential layoffs if we go over the cliff make these rearview numbers seem almost irrelevant to the market. hence the mixed performance of the averages today. sure, dow gained 81 points, but the s&p barely budged, edging up 29%. and the nasdaq actually declined .38%, led once again by the slip sliding away apple, which you know i like, but how many times during a particular show can i say i like it? so with that in mind, what's the game plan for next week? first off, perhaps the most important day of the week is monday. but not for any earnings. not for any releases. that's when we process the results of the weekend talk shows, which you now have to watch as if we were instead of watching, you know, colleg

up this year, although it is now drifting back downward on account ofthefiscalcliffispeople feel a little bit more secure in their jobs. they know their company's in pretty good shape. what we need to see next are companies starting to grow, get more demand for treer products and services and start hiring. let's hope we see it in 2013. host: morgantown, go ahead? caller: yeah, i think george bush sold all our jobs overseas, and he ought to be sell all that oil he got and give the money to the people where they can take that money they've got there overseas -- caller: yeah, mr. newman, i think it is. you've really got some good points. but i was wondering, can you give me an answer for this theory i got. we got to remember that we were living in this bubble and we're never, ever, and we shouldn't ever try to get back to that inflated, unnatural way that we lived. we all don't need a big 50 inch screen tv. i mean, it's got to start at home. we have to learn to live within our means and i mean the big companies too. because they get to hire the big tax lawyers, accountants who can d